Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method comprising: identifying font-based barcode elements to encode a value, the font-based barcode elements describing a block barcode; determining whether image data and associated graphical elements are available for the block barcode by accessing a style sheet containing tested image data and associated graphical elements; when the image data and the associated graphical elements are available, dynamically modifying the font-based barcode elements to produce a modified barcode that conveys an image based on the image data other than a block barcode; and printing the modified barcode.
The method involves modifying a standard font-based barcode to include a visible image. First, the system identifies the font-based barcode elements needed to represent the barcode's data. It checks a style sheet for available image data and corresponding graphical elements associated with that barcode. If suitable image data is found, the system changes the barcode elements to incorporate the image, creating a modified barcode that visually represents the image instead of only displaying the standard block barcode. Finally, this modified barcode, containing both the data and the image, is printed.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein dynamically modifying the font-based barcode elements comprises modifying at least one line segment that describes a portion of the font-based barcode elements.
Building upon the method of modifying a font-based barcode to include a visible image, where the system identifies the font-based barcode elements needed to represent the barcode's data, checks a style sheet for available image data and corresponding graphical elements associated with that barcode, and if suitable image data is found, changes the barcode elements to incorporate the image, creating a modified barcode that visually represents the image instead of only displaying the standard block barcode, the process of changing the barcode elements involves modifying at least one line segment that defines a part of the font-based barcode.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein dynamically modifying the font-based barcode elements comprises modifying descriptions of curves and line segments that define an outline barcode font.
Expanding on the method of modifying a font-based barcode to include a visible image, where the system identifies the font-based barcode elements needed to represent the barcode's data, checks a style sheet for available image data and corresponding graphical elements associated with that barcode, and if suitable image data is found, changes the barcode elements to incorporate the image, creating a modified barcode that visually represents the image instead of only displaying the standard block barcode, the system modifies the descriptions of curves and line segments that form the outline of the barcode font. This changes the visual appearance of the barcode to integrate the image.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein modifying comprises at least one of adding additional curves, adding additional line segments, changing a starting point or ending point of a curve or line segment, and changing a shape of a curve.
Further detailing the method where curves and line segments that define an outline barcode font are modified to include a visible image, the modification includes at least one of the following actions: adding extra curves, adding extra line segments, changing the starting or ending point of a curve or line segment, or changing the shape of a curve. These modifications alter the original barcode font to incorporate the graphical image while still encoding the original data.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein dynamically modifying the font-based barcode elements comprises forming a bitmap from the font-based barcode elements and applying the bitmap to a mask to form the modified barcode.
Expanding on the method of modifying a font-based barcode to include a visible image, where the system identifies the font-based barcode elements needed to represent the barcode's data, checks a style sheet for available image data and corresponding graphical elements associated with that barcode, and if suitable image data is found, changes the barcode elements to incorporate the image, creating a modified barcode that visually represents the image instead of only displaying the standard block barcode, the system first creates a bitmap image from the font-based barcode elements. It then applies a mask to this bitmap to create the modified barcode that includes the image.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the mask adds additional graphical elements to the font-based barcode elements.
Further detailing the method where a bitmap is created from the font-based barcode elements and a mask is applied to create the modified barcode that includes the image, the mask adds additional graphical elements to the original font-based barcode elements. This adds visual features to the barcode beyond what the original font could provide, forming the final modified barcode.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the mask removes portions of the font-based barcode elements.
Further detailing the method where a bitmap is created from the font-based barcode elements and a mask is applied to create the modified barcode that includes the image, the mask removes portions of the original font-based barcode elements. This cuts away parts of the original barcode to make space for or integrate with the desired image.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: for each of a plurality of values, identifying font-based barcode elements to encode the value; dynamically modifying the font-based barcode elements for each value to produce a modified barcode that conveys an image for each value, wherein the same image is conveyed for each value; and printing the modified barcodes.
The method involves modifying multiple barcodes to include the same image. For each barcode value, the system identifies the necessary font-based barcode elements. It then modifies these elements to generate a modified barcode that includes the specific image, ensuring the same image is used for each barcode even though they represent different data. These modified barcodes, each containing data and the common image, are then printed.
9. A method comprising: adding graphical elements to a plurality of barcodes to form a plurality of graphical patterns; testing each graphical pattern to ensure that the barcode within the graphical pattern is machine-readable; and placing the graphical elements in a style sheet for use with a plurality of barcodes including at least one barcode that was not used during testing.
The method involves creating barcodes with added graphical elements. First, graphical elements are added to several barcodes, resulting in various graphical patterns. Each of these patterns is then tested to make sure the underlying barcode remains readable by scanners. Successful patterns are stored in a style sheet. This style sheet can be used to apply the same graphical elements to other barcodes, including barcodes that weren't part of the initial testing phase.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein placing the graphical elements in a style sheet comprises indicating spacing that should be used between the design elements and barcodes.
Building upon the method of creating barcodes with added graphical elements, where graphical elements are added to several barcodes, resulting in various graphical patterns, each of these patterns is then tested to make sure the underlying barcode remains readable by scanners, and successful patterns are stored in a style sheet, storing the graphical elements in the style sheet also includes specifying the correct spacing that should be maintained between the design elements and the barcodes.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein placing the graphical elements in a style sheet comprises indicating a color for the graphical elements.
Building upon the method of creating barcodes with added graphical elements, where graphical elements are added to several barcodes, resulting in various graphical patterns, each of these patterns is then tested to make sure the underlying barcode remains readable by scanners, and successful patterns are stored in a style sheet, storing the graphical elements in the style sheet also includes specifying the color to be used for the graphical elements.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising evaluating the graphical elements to determine if the graphical elements include intellectual property before placing the graphical elements in the style sheet.
Expanding on the method of creating barcodes with added graphical elements, where graphical elements are added to several barcodes, resulting in various graphical patterns, each of these patterns is then tested to make sure the underlying barcode remains readable by scanners, and successful patterns are stored in a style sheet, before storing the graphical elements in the style sheet, the system evaluates them to determine if they infringe on any intellectual property rights. This helps to avoid copyright or trademark issues.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein testing each graphical pattern comprises determining whether each graphical pattern is recognized on a single pass of a scanner.
Further detailing the method of creating barcodes with added graphical elements and testing them to ensure readability, the testing process involves determining if each graphical pattern can be recognized by a scanner in a single pass. This ensures quick and reliable scanning of the modified barcodes.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein if the testing of one of the plurality of barcodes is unsuccessful, the method comprises redesigning the graphical elements.
Further detailing the method of creating barcodes with added graphical elements and testing them to ensure readability, if a barcode and graphical element combination fails the readability test, the graphical elements are redesigned. This iterative process ensures all barcode designs are scannable.
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September 23, 2014
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